Obituary - Lloyd Eugene McGee Jr.

Lloyd Eugene “Gene” McGee, Jr., age 70, of Blue Mound, Kansas passed away Thursday, March 18, 2021. Gene was born in Kansas City, Missouri on July 2, 1950, the eldest of seven children to Lloyd Eugene and Mary Ellen Wilhite McGee.

During Gene’s early teen-years, he began to attend the YMCA where he met Mr. Rodgers, who became a father-figure to him: taught him about how to work on cars, how to play the guitar, and helped set him on a path towards a great love for The United States of America. At the age of seventeen, Gene enlisted into the United States Marine Corps, where he proudly served his country for twenty-four years, including time in Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm. Upon retirement, Gene was a mechanic, a prison guard, a sheriff’s deputy, and a cabinet maker. At the request of a friend, Gene entered the cab of a long-haul truck for a weekend, then retired from being a truck driver after twenty years of accident-free driving.

Gene enjoyed spending time with his family, bowling and baseball. Additionally, he loved camping, playing music and travelling “this beautiful country of ours.” Gene was a member of the American Legion.

Gene was united in marriage to Susan Lusk on April 9, 2019. He was preceded in death by his parents; oldest grandson, Joshua McGee; brother-in-law, Charles “Chuck” Trotter; and brother, Billy McGee. Gene is survived by his wife, Susan; a daughter, Angela Lesher McGee; a son, Brian (April) McGee; grandsons, Jacob and Stephen McGee; sisters Martha, Debbie and Cathy; brother, Bobby; many nieces, nephews, step-children and step-grandchildren; and ex-wife, LaDonna Trotter.

A graveside service at Fort Scott National Cemetery will be announced at a later date. Online condolences can be left at www.schneiderfunerals.com

Obituary - Glenn T Vaughn

Glenn Thomas Vaughn, age 87, Prescott, Kansas passed away on Saturday, March 20, 2021. He was born on June 1, 1933 in Vinita, Oklahoma the son of Raymond and Mildred Murr Vaughn. He proudly served his country in the United States Navy. Glenn was united in marriage to Jean Lyon on October 4, 1958. 

He worked at many different jobs, including, Ford Assembly Plant, Long Beach, California, Douglas Aircraft, Bendix, Jayhawk USD #346, and as a farmer. Glenn was a member of the Prescott United Methodist Church. He was past president of the Linn County Farm Bureau and past member of the Country View Nursing Home Board. He was a member of the Kansas Steel Guitar Association and played in bands traveling all over eastern Kansas and western Missouri.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and three brothers, Eugene, Jimmy and Bobby Vaughn. Glenn is survived by his wife, Jean, children, Diana Stephan(Mark), Brian Vaughn(Angela), and Roger Vaughn(Lori), a sister, Arlene Seitz, eight grandchildren, Derek Stephan, Sarah Jones(Andrew), Troy Hunt, Tara Wunderly(Ryan), Trenton Vaughn(Kylie), Tyler Vaughn, Alison Cannon(Chase), and Andrea Vaughn, and five great grandchildren, Dayton Jones, Maren Jones, Grayson Stephan, Hayden Wunderly, and Jace Wunderly.

Funeral service will be 10 am Wednesday, March 24, 2021 at the Prescott United Methodist Church. Burial in the Prescott Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 pm Tuesday, March 23, 2021 at the Schneider Funeral Home and Crematory, Mound City Chapel. Contributions are suggested to the Prescott United Methodist Church, c/o Schneider Funeral Home, P.O. Box J, Mound City, KS 66056. Online condolences can be left at www.schneider funerals.com.

Obituary - Darryl G. McClellan

Darryl G. McClellan, 79 of Adrian, Missouri passed away March 21, 2021 at his home. Cremation, with Celebration of Life at 2:00 PM Friday, March 26, 2021 at Mullinax Funeral Home (660-679-0009) with Pastor Ron Dunlap officiating. Visitation will be from 1-2 PM prior to services, also at the funeral home. 

Contributions are suggested to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, or the American Cancer Society. Memories and messages of condolence for the family may be left at www.mullinaxfuneralhome.com.

A complete obituary will be published as the information becomes available.

Landmark collapses near Hume over the weekend

photo courtesy Ned Ducharme

The Independence Church located north of Hume collapsed over the weekend, bringing an end to a well known landmark along V highway. The building has been vacated and in poor repair for quite some time; to its credit, it was built in 1877. 

The church in its former glory:

Potato chips were cause of emergency

What's Up? 

by LeRoy Cook

Carefully choosing their chances to fly, pilots took to the air last week during some of the lulls in the wind and spring storms. As spring officially arrived we had to shift our focus from icing and cold starts to open vents and high cylinder head temperatures.

Among the observed visitors were a Piper Archer, a Cessna Skylane 182T, a Cessna Skylane bearing skydivers and a Piper Cherokee whose pilot stubbornly insisted on flying a right-hand traffic pattern despite the air regulation calling for left turns. Another Cessna Skylane was in from Harrisonville for recurrent training. The multicom radio frequency was loaded with traffic calls as pent-up demand was turned loose.

Local aviators exercising their wings included Jim Ferguson in his Cessna Skylane, Roy Conley in his Grumman Tr2 and the Beech Bonanza N35, Brandt Hall in his Genesis homebuilt and new pilot Dayne Kedigh, off to Clinton in a Cessna 150. The tired-bottom award of the week went to CFI Eric Eastland, who logged 13 hours in the saddle flying the Cessna Skyhawk to Panama City, Florida and back over the weekend. The SkyDive KC Beech King Air C90 got in a partial opening weekend of hauling jumpers, before Sunday’s wind put a halt to activity.

Heard a funny story last week, about a pilot of a Skylane who climbed out of Los Angeles to 10,000 feet, enroute to Page, Arizona (I know, wrong altitude, but that’s the story). Shortly after leveling off, a loud explosion was heard and the pilot immediately declared an emergency with SoCal (Southern California Approach) saying he had blown a cylinder. He was given a radar vector to land at Grass Valley, but then realized his engine was still purring. He told approach to forget the emergency, he was going on to Page. Now, you can’t just do that; FAA rules since 9/11 insist that reports have to be filled out and an explanation given. Sheepishly, he confessed that a bag of potato chips had exploded in the -unpressurized cabin.

The B-2 Stealth bombers we see flying over our area may soon have a sibling to join them. Northrop Grumman is expecting to fly its B-21 bomber next year, an $800-million follow-on to the already-aging B-2. The B-21 is expected to have a similar flying-wing configuration, but it’ll be “optionally piloted”, meaning it may eventually be operated remotely as a drone system.

Our question from last week was “how many horsepower are in a kilowatt?” The answer is, a KW can do about ¾ of a horsepower in equivalent work—while the battery holds up. So a 600-KW electric motor can replace a 450-hp combustion engine, in theory. Current technology makes it impractical. For next week, our brain-teaser asks “what did air race pilot Steve Wittman call his motorcycle engine powered racing plane, which was marginally successful?” Your answer can be sent to kochhaus1@gmail.com.

Obituary - Jacquelyn Ann Thornton

Test and Tune this weekend at Old 71 Speedway in Butler

March 27th test and tune. 10 am until 5pm.
$20 driver
$10 crew
General Admission free.

At 1 clock the class with the most cars will have a 8 lap dash for cash starting at $100 to win.

A fitting tribute, indeed

Bates County Museum Curator, Peggy Buhr

A group of over 40 persons assembled at Oak Hill Cemetery in Butler yesterday afternoon to pay honor to Sergeant Freeman Davis, Civil War Medal of Honor recipient. Davis was honored on March 30th, 1896 by the President of the United States, citing "This soldier, while his regiment was falling back, seeing the 2 color bearers shot down, under a severe fire and at imminent peril, recovered both flags and saved them from capture". Davis is the only Medal of Honor recipient buried in Bates County and is recognized for this bravery during the Battle of Mission Ridge, TN on November 25th, 1863.

Presentation of Flag

This act was again recognized in the ceremony opening remarks spearheaded by Kevin Miller, Senior Vice Commander Westport Camp #64, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. He was joined by other heritage societies including the Sons of the American Revolution, Daughters of the American Revolution, United States Daughters of 1812, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Also present were Butler Mayor Jim Henry who read a proclamation; the Bates County Historical Society; the Missouri National Guard; VFW Post 1935 of Adrian; the American Legion Post 67 of Rich Hill and Bugles Across America.

Wreaths placed at Davis's grave

There was the Presentation of Colors, a prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance followed shortly thereafter by the reading of Davis's biography by Bates County Museum Curator Peggy Buhr. Other speakers included Don Arndt, Pamela Miller, Julie Thomas, Aubrey Portman and chaplain James Beckner.

During the proceedings, Peggy Buhr was presented a flag in honor of Davis, which will be proudly displayed in the Civil War exhibit at the Bates County Museum.